leaful 
Tell your sister Sarah 
To come and lift her leafu' lord ; 
He's sleupin sound on Yarrow. 
The Dourie Dem of Yarrow (Child's Ballads, III. 67). 
leaf-valve (lef 'valv), n. In a pumping-engine, 
a valve hinged or pivoted at the side; a clack- 
or flap-valve. E. B. Knight. 
leafwork (lef 'werk), n. [= G. laubwerk = Dan. 
Imverk = Sw. lofverk.] Decorative work hav- 
ing the character of leafage, or having a design 
imitated from or suggested by natural leaves. 
leafy (le'fi), a. [< !eaf+-y 1 .'] Furnished with, 
abounding in, or consisting of leaves: as, a 
leafy stem ; a leafy forest ; a leafy covert. 
In the leafy month of June. 
Coleridge, Ancient Mariner, v. 
league 1 (leg), . [< ME. lege, < OF. F. ligue = 
Sp. Pg. Uga = It. lega, < ML. liga, lega, a league 
or confederacy, < L. ligare, bind: see ligament.'] 
1. A compact or covenant between persons 
for the maintenance of joint interests or mu- 
tual service; hence, union; close affinity ; friend- 
ship. 
There is such a league between my good man and he ! 
Shot., M. W. of W., iii. 2. 25. 
I myself am in such hearty league 
With solitary thoughts, that pensive language 
Charms my attention. Ford, Lady's Trial, iv. 1, 
Fair couple, link'd in happy nuptial league. 
Milton, P. L., iv. 339. 
Specifically 2. A political or military con- 
federation; a covenanted alliance or coalition, 
as of persons or parties in a state, or more com- 
monly of the ruling powers of different states, 
for the promotion of common objects or inter- 
ests ; a compact for mutual aid and support in 
public policy or war : as. the Hanseatic League; 
the Holy League in France; the league of 
Schmalkald. 
Howbeit, bycause we pylgrymes were not, as he sayd, 
comprysed in the sayd lege, he wolde not therfore promys 
nor warant vs any suerty, but we to stande atoure aduen- 
ture. Sir R. Quytforde, Pylgrymage, p. 69. 
To conclude, 
Without the king's will or the state's allowance, 
A league between his highness and Ferrara. 
Shale., Hen. VIII., iii. 2. 323. 
How fair his [William's] Friendship, and his Leagues how 
just, 
Whom ev'ry Nation courts, whom all Religions trust ! 
Prior, Carmen Seculare (1700), st. 21. 
3. A combination of different associations or 
bodies of persons for the promotion of com- 
mon purposes: as, a base-ball league. Achean 
League, tolian League, Hanseatic League, Holy 
League. See the adjectives. Land League, in Ireland, 
a combination of Irish tenant farmers and others, organ- 
ized by Charles Stewart Parnell in October and November. 
1879, under the name of the " Irish National land League, " 
with the object of procuring reduction of rents, refusing 
to pay rents if such reduction was not granted, and, finally, 
of effecting a sweeping change in the land laws, by which 
peasant proprietors were to be substituted for landlords. 
The league developed great strength, and became the 
chief factor in the political movement for home rule in 
Ireland, also led by Mr. Parnell. Latin league. See 
Latin. Primrose League, in Great Britain, a league 
or combination of persons pledged to principles of conser- 
vatism as represented by Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Bea- 
consfleld (1804-81), and opposed to the "revolutionary 
tendencies of Radicalism." The object of the league is de- 
clared to be "the maintenance of religion, the constitu- 
tion of the realm, and of the imperial ascendancy of Great 
Britain." The scheme of the organization was first dis- 
cussed at the Carlton Club, in October, 1883, and the ac- 
tual league made its first public appearance in a grand 
banquet at Freemasons' Tavern in London a few weeks 
later. The organization of the league is by " habitations " 
or clubs ; these obey the instructions of the Grand Council, 
and annually send delegates to the Grand Habitation, which 
is held in London on or near the 19th of April, the anniver- 
sary of the death of Lord Beaconsfleld. A noteworthy fea- 
ture is the enrolment of women, or "dames," who take an 
active part in all the business of the association, having an 
executive committee and a fund of their own. The name 
and symbol of the league are derived from Beaconsfield's 
favorite flower. Solemn League and Covenant. See 
covenant. To be In league With, to be confederated 
with ; have a compact with : usually with a sinister mean- 
ing : as, to be in league^ with rogues. = Syn. Confederacy, 
Coalition, etc. (see alliance), society, federation, associa- 
tion, fraternity. 
league 1 (leg), v.; pret. and pp. leagued, ppr. 
leaguing. [< league 1 , n.] I. intrans. To form 
a league; join in friendship or interest; com- 
bine for mutual support; confederate. 
Thus sundry motives, more than I can name, 
Leagued on his part, and she a wife became. 
Crabbe, Works, VII. 99. 
H. trans. To combine ; band ; confederate. 
Wakeful ambition leagu'd with hasty pride. 
P. Fletcher, Upon the Picture of Achmet. 
A time came, almost within our own day, when Pope 
and Turk were really leagued together. 
E. A. .Freeman, Venice, p. 318. 
league 2 (leg), n. [< ME. lege, legge, leghe, < 
OF. let/He (F. ttene) = Pr. lega, legiia = Cat. 
3388 
llegua = Sp. Pg. legua, legoa = It, lega, < ML. 
lega, leuga, leuca, LL. leuca = LGr. Actryi;, NGr. 
teiiya, a Gallic mile (see below), = AS. ledwe, a 
league. Of Celtic origin ; cf . Bret, led, leu, lev, a 
league. The Gallic leig, Ir. leige, are from E.] 
An itinerary unit not now in English use, ex- 
cept as a marine league. (See below.) The league 
as a unit of length originated in ancient Gaul, where it was 
equal to U Roman miles, or 1.4 statute miles, improperly 
termed the Gallic mile. Afterward it was 2,000 paces, and in 
the middle ages it was in England 2 miles, or nearly 3 stat- 
ute miles. It is a conventional, not a legal measure. A 
land-league is sometimes said to be 3 statute miles. The 
common league of France was 2.764 statute miles ; the 
French posting league was 2.422 statute miles ; the Span- 
ish league was 4.214 statute miles; the Spanish judicial 
league was 2.634 statute miles ; the Flanders league was 3.9 
statute miles ; the Brabant league was the marine league. 
The league is still in use in parts of the United States ac- 
quired from Mexico, where it is held to be about 2.68 Eng- 
lish miles, and a square league 4,428.4 acres. The league 
is much used in South America. In the greater part of 
the Argentine Republic, as in Uruguay before 1864, it 
is equal to 6,000 varas, which, however, are of different 
lengths in different provinces ; and the so-called Argen- 
tine league of S.OOO varas exists only in Santiago Del Es- 
tero. The postal league, however, varies from 4,000 to 
5,000 varas ; and in Tucuman the league is sometimes 
4,980, sometimes 3,320 varas. The old league of Cuba was 
4,906 varas. In Buenos Ayres the league is 5,200 meters, 
in Rioja 5,035.20 meters, in Colombia 5.000 meters, in 
Chili 4,513.892 meters, and in Paraguay 4,193 meters. 
Thre kennynges ferre on the see : that is, one and twenty 
leglies ferre. Prose Rom. of Meluxine, fol. 61. 
And aboute .iij. or .iiij. legges frome thens is the place 
yt now is desert, where ye woman of Cananee prayde to 
our Lord for her doughter yt was vexed wt a fende. 
Sir R. Qmjlforde, Pylgrymage, p. 47. 
From the place whence the Romanes advaunced their 
standerds unto the barbarians fort it wasf ourteene leagues: 
that is to say, one and twentie miles. 
Holland, tr. of Ammianus, p. 69. 
The Domesday league was only a mile and a half. 
Pearson, Historical Maps of Eng., p. 61. 
Marine league, a rough unit of length, equal to three geo- 
graphical or nautical miles (see mile), or one twentieth of 
a degree of latitude. A nation has exclusive territorial 
jurisdiction on the high seas for a marine league from its 
own shore. 
leaguer 1 (le'ger), n. [< OF. and F. ligueiir, < 
liyue, league: see league^, >.] A member of a 
league ; a confederate ; one who belongs to a 
league of individuals or parties within a state: 
as, the French leaguers fought against both 
Henry III. and Henry IV. 
The divisions are so many, and so intricate, of protes- 
tants and catholics, royalists and leaguers. 
Bacon, Obs. on a Libel. 
leaguer 2 (le'ger), . [Early mod. E. also lea- 
gher, legher; < D. leger = G. lager, a bed, couch, 
camp, = Dan. lejr, camp, = Sw. liiger, camp, also 
(= Dan. leje) bed, couch, = AS. leger, bed: see 
tofr 1 , of which leaguer is thus ult. a doublet.] 
1. A camp; especially, the camp of a besieg- 
ing army; a besieging force. [Obsolete or ar- 
chaic.] 
He is carried into the leaguer of the adversaries. 
Shak., All's Well, iii. 6. 27. 
I have it in charge to go to the camp or leagur.r of our 
army. Scott. 
2. Investment of a town or fort by an army ; 
a siege or besiegement. 
It was perceiued that their slender ranks were not able 
to resist the thicke leghers of the enemies. 
Hotinshed, Hist Eng., vi. 13. 
Ill tell you, gentlemen, it was the first, but the best 
leaguer that ever I beheld with these eyes. 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, iii. 1. 
It was to him that all eyes turned, during the infinite 
horrors of the Harlem siege, and in the more prosperous 
leaguer of Alkmaar. Motley, Dutch Republic, II. 486. 
leaguer 2 (le'ger), v. t. [< leaguer 2 , .] To be- 
leaguer; besiege. [Bare.] 
Two mighty hosts a leagur'd town embrace, 
And one would pillage, one would burn the place. 
Pope, Iliad, xviii. 
leaguer s t (le'ger), . [< league^ + -er^, but with 
sense of league^.'] Association in a league; 
leagued or confederate action. [Rare.] 
Wee, and our friends, are seconded from Italy, Spayne, 
Flaunders, and Germany, besides the matchlesse strength 
of resolute leagtter in this holy vnion. 
Stow, Queen Elizabeth, an. 1690. 
leaguerert (le'ger-er), . One engaged in a 
leaguer; a besieger: as, "Roman leaguerers," 
J. Webster. 
leak (lek), v. [< ME. leken (prob. of Scand. 
origin) = D. lekken = OHG. lechen (only in pp. 
zerlechen), MHG. G. lechen, also lecken = Icel. 
leka = Dan. Iwkke = Sw. lacka, to be leaky, 
leak; cf. MHG. lechezen, lechgen, G. lechzen, dry 
up, leak; from the adj. (see leak. ..), which is 
not found in ME. or AS. (the rare AS. hlec, 
leaky said of a ship beingappar. unrelated); 
associated with a causal verb, E. leach 2 , letch 1 , 
leaky 
latclfi,< AS. leccan = MHG. lecken, wet; allprob. 
from an orig. strong verb, Goth, as if "likart, be 
wet. Cf. leach 2 , fe/e/* 1 .] I. intrans. 1. To let 
water or other fluid, or light, etc., out of, into, 
or through something, by an accidental or un- 
intentional aperture, or through permeable ma- 
terial: as, the cask leaks; the snip is leaking; 
the roof leaks. 
He by Sithrike's procurement was sent to Flanders in a 
ship that leaked, and so was drowned. 
Holimhed, Hist. Eng., vi. 19. 
2. To ooze or pass, as water or other fluid, or 
anything that can flow, as grain, through an 
aperture. 
Looke euery nyxt with a Candelle that they [wines] not 
reboyle nor lele [leke in MS. also], 
Babees Boole (E. E. T. S.), p. 124. 
The water, which will perhaps by degrees leak into sev- 
eral parts, may be emptied out again. Wilkins. 
3. To void water or urine. [Vulgar.] 
Why, they will allow us ne'er a Jordan, and then we leak 
in your chimney. Shak., 1 Hen. IV., ii. 1. 22. 
To leak out, to find vent ; transpire ; find publicity in a 
clandestine or irregular way : as, the story leaked out. 
II. trans. 1. To let out or in (especially some 
fluid) by an accidental aperture: as, the pipe 
leaks gas ; the roof leaks rain ; the camera leaks 
light. 2f. To make leaky. 
After we had with much trouble & charge sente ye Par- 
ragon away to sea. and thought all y paine past, within 
14. days after she came againe hither, being uangerously 
leaked. Quoted in Bradford's Plymouth Plantation, p. 138. 
leakt (lek), a. [= D. lek = LG. lek = G. lech, now 
usually leek, after LG., = Icel. lekr = Dan. la;k 
= Sw. lack, leaky : see the verb.] Leaky. 
Fifty sisters water in leke vessels draw. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. v. 36. 
I have more to do with my honesty than to fool it, 
Or venture it in such leak barks as women. 
Fletcher, Wildgoose Chase, il. 1. 
leak (lek), n. [< ME. *leke (?) = D. lek = G. leek 
= Icel. leki = Dan. IceTe = S w. lacka, a leak : see 
the verb. Cf. feat, a.] 1. An aperture by which 
anything that can flow, especially water or 
other fluid, passes out of, into, or through any- 
thing intended to contain, exclude, or restrain 
it; a crack, crevice, fissure, or hole that per- 
mits the passage of anything intended to be 
shut in or out: as, a leak in a cask, ship, dam, 
or dike ; to stop or plug a leak. 
If the leak [in a ship's bottom] increases when going 
ahead at full speed, it is probably forward, otherwise it is 
abaft. Luce, Seamanship, p. 582. 
2. The oozing or passing of a fluid, etc., into, 
out of, or through anything by an accidental or 
unintentional aperture or through a permea- 
ble medium; leakage. 3. A gutter. Halliu-ell. 
[Prov. Eng.] To spring a leak, to open, split, or 
part so as to let in water ; begin to let in water, as a ship 
or boat. 
leakage (le'kaj), . [< '.leak + age.'] 1. A leak- 
ing ; a passing, of a fluid, etc., by or as if by leak- 
ing. 
To accumulate their misfortunes, they were soon obliged 
to cut away their bowsprit, to diminish, if possible, the 
leakage at the head. 
Anson, Voyage round the World, i. 3. 
It is an acknowledged fact that there is a constant leak- 
age of emigrants, who had apparently promised to tarry 
in Canada, into the United States territories. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVIII. 536. 
2. The quantity of a fluid that enters or escapes 
by leaking; loss from leaking: as, the leakage 
amounts to so much. 3. In com., an allow- 
ance of a certain rate per cent, for the leaking 
of casks, or waste by leaking. 
leak-alarm (lek'a-larm*'), n. A device, com- 
prising a spring-drum, a float to be raised by 
the water, and an alarm-bell, for sounding an 
alarm when water accumulates in the hold of 
a vessel ; a leak-indicator or -signal. 
leakiness (le'ki-nes), n. The state of being 
leaky. 
leaky (le'ki), . [< leak + -y 1 .] 1. Having a 
leak or leaks; allowing water or other fluid, 
etc., to pass in or out through an aperture or 
apertures: as, a leaky boat; a leaky barrel. 
He was put ashore from a leak;/ vessel. 
Steele, Englishman, No. 26. 
Prisons were leaky [in the fifteenth century], and ... a 
man with a few crowns in his pocket, and perhaps some 
acquaintance among the officials, could easily slip out. 
R. L. Stevenson, Francois Villon. 
Hence 2. Apt to disclose secrets ; babbling; 
tattling. 
Women are so leaky that I have harily met with one 
that could not hold her breath longer than she could keep 
a secret. Sir R. L'JSstrange. 
